Welcome to the blog of writer Ken Foster, author of "The Dogs Who Found Me," "The Kind I'm Likely to Get," and most recently, "I'm a Good Dog: Pit Bulls, America's Most Beautiful (and Misunderstood) Pet." Email contact: ken@kenfosterbooks.com

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A lesson for developers in what not to do

I was talking with some architects last week about the ongoing Perez APC debacle in the lower ninth ward. I wish someone had been documenting this wreck from the beginning, because it would be a great teaching film for would-be developers: do not try any of the tactics you see here! And the professionals I was speaking too agreed--they had been forwarding coverage to their colleagues in other cities, in awe at the stubborn, clumsy disrespect Perez continues to demonstrate in a community they claim to aspire to be a part of.

More remarkable than their missteps is their refusal to backtrack when being called on their BS. For example, after meeting with the community and learning that we have, historically, fought against development of the kind they were proposing, they announced that they had no intention of negotiating. Then, when the community collaborated on three alternative plans with Tulane City Center, Perez complained that they hadn't been included, while refusing to incorporate any of the community's needs into their own plan. The result: instead of having 800 people working to support their effort to develop the former Holy Cross school property, they have 800 people fighting against them. When news coverage criticized the efforts made by Perez to bypass the community, they admitted that perhaps instead of a PR company they should have invested in community outreach; and then they continued to dismiss the community rather than reaching out to them.

Here are some of the highlights, or lowlights, of their failed campaign:

Here are the four testimonials that they featured in their glossy mailing to members of the affected community. None of these four people live in the Lower Ninth Ward. Two have been promised businesses in the development. One has stated that she was manipulated into participating in the promotion. Yet Perez continues to circulate their images and statements.

The benefits of height, according to Perez, is that it will solve common problems such as obesity. Huh? The same promotional mailing features a statement that the only people who have opposed the project are people who requested inappropriate "favors" from Angela O'Byrne. This, of course, is an outright lie. O'Byrne clearly has a different goal than the community, but it has nothing to do with favors, and it is a particularly clumsy claim to make when Perez itself has been offering favors in exchange for support.

This lead me to post this (I think) rather funny graphic on my Twitter feed:

The response? Angela's daughter, a self-proclaimed "entertainer," began Tweeting and posting on Facebook calling me a troll who was trying to "stop her mother."